chef august is Cooking

This is a SFW (platonic & romantic) FANFICTION blog focused on fluffy tickle fics -- NOT a kink blog. They/She/He || Adult (mid-20s) Anyone can interact/reblog & send public prompts (if they're open), headcanons, or other asks, but do NOT DM me if you are under 18 I block blank blogs || Do NOT DM me or send asks with tickle talk or teasing || I do NOT write xReader fics || I do NOT roleplay I reserve the right to deny any and all prompts || For a list of all my works check my Masterpost page (CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION) or my ao3 || Please check my fandom page before sending any prompts in! Prompts are currently CLOSED!! I have a lot of prompts I need to catch up on, so they've been closed for now!!

[august-anon]

First all, I really enjoy your work. I always enjoy coming back to re-read some of your fics.

Second of all, I've rarely asked in prompts, so apologies if I did anything wrong.

Prompt: Dick Grayson always gets a look on his face when in a mischievous mood that his siblings have learned to drop everything and escape. However, Tim, with his lack of self-preservation and addiction to coffee, has not learned his lesson.

Thank you so much!! And thank you for your patience, this has been sitting in my inbox for a year and a half 😭 I hope you enjoy this fic!!!

also folks, i barely edited this, i just skimmed through it last night in a haze when i was struggling to sleep, so pls bear that in mind if there are weird sentences or mistakes or typos dsjfhdf

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Situational Awareness

Fandom: Batfamily (no specific source material/continuity)

Ship(s): Gen!!! Platonic!! Familial!! No batcest here

Characters (lee/ler): Lee!Tim & Ler!Dick

Word Count: 3298 words

Summary: Tim's too busy working to place why Dick's behavior is sending his nerves haywire. Luckily, Dick doesn't leave him in suspense for too long.

[ao3 link]

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For all of Bruce’s promises to soundproof the bedrooms, Tim could certainly hear all the shouting and cackling going on downstairs at the moment. Granted, it was probably because he’d left his door ever-so-slightly cracked on accident on his last energy drink run and he hadn’t felt like pulling himself away from his laptop to fix that. Still, it was doing the tension headache he could feel coming on no favors. These Wayne Enterprises reports weren’t going to write themselves, though, so Tim just rubbed at his eyes and pushed through. He didn’t even bother turning around when his door opened fully, the sounds from below growing louder with it.

“Been at the Manor for hours and haven’t seen hide nor hair of my baby bird! What are you doing, all locked away up here?” 

The unexpected voice nearly had Tim turning around, but if he let himself get interrupted now, he’d lose his flow and it would be impossible to force himself back on track. 

“Working.” 

Tim could practically hear the pout in Dick’s voice. “Working? When I’m in Gotham? Timmy, I’m hurt.”

Tim rolled his eyes, taking a gulp of his energy drink – shit, almost empty. That was his last one, too. He might have to start in on the coffee, soon. Blegh.

“Didn’t know you’d be home this weekend.”

A body suddenly draped itself over the back of his chair, which was not helping with the ache in his shoulders and upper back, thank you very much. Tim grunted at the extra weight and allowed himself a brief glare at Dick, whose head was now resting on his shoulder.

“Do you mind?”

Dick hummed. “No, not at all. I mean, it’s not the most comfy, you are pretty bony, but I can make-do. I cuddle with Wally all the time, after all.”

Tim closed his eyes and counted out a few steady breaths. When he reopened them, he turned to face Dick again and found Dick already watching him. Thankfully, he’d backed away a bit, so they weren’t having to cross their eyes to see each other.

“Dick. I’m busy right now. We can catch up later, alright?”

Dick pouted, the manipulative jerk, and glanced towards Tim’s desk. He knew Dick was taking in the mess of paperwork and casework he’d snuck up from the Cave, the excess of drink cans that he’d yet to haul down to the recycling, the state of the current report he was working on, all in a few seconds.

“Looks like you’ve been working for a bit now…”

“It’s due soon.”

“How soon?” He should’ve known Dick would immediately latch onto the vague wording. 

“Soon enough that you should leave me alone.”

Dick hummed again, narrowing his eyes. “You can’t take even just a little break?”

“I’ll break you,” Tim grumbled under his breath, but Dick was too close not to overhear. 

“Timmy,” Dick sing-songed, drawing out his name. 

For some reason, Tim’s skin started prickling, his heart thumping with a surge of adrenaline. Tim shrugged his shoulders, even with Dick’s weight pressed against them, trying to dispel some of the anxious energy. Maybe he had had too many energy drinks.

“What?” 

“You have five seconds to save your document.” 

Tim startled, glancing back toward Dick again. “I— wait, what?”

“Five… four… three…”

Tim swore under his breath and saved his spreadsheet, then the few other documents he had open too. Dick was kind enough to slow down his counting a comical amount for Tim to do so, even adding some fractions into the mix. When the last document was saved and Dick reached zero, he reached out and flipped the laptop shut. Tim pulled his fingers back with a yelp, barely clearing the edge of the device before it closed.

Tim managed to shake Dick off his shoulders for real after that, spinning his desk chair around to glare up at him. “Satisfied?”

Dick smiled, slow and innocent, but there was a dangerous curl to the edge of it. Tim was too preoccupied to bother wondering why it made him so twitchy, already mentally adding up further spreadsheet edits he needed to make in his head. He’d get to it as soon as he got Dick out of his room. Ugh, this is why he rarely stayed at the Manor anymore — at least at his Nest, he could lock obnoxious brothers out. 

“Almost,” Dick said, drawing out the word again. “Just one more thing.” 

Tim rolled his eyes. “And what’s that?”

Dick slunk closer, Tim’s hackles raising with every step. He loomed over Tim and said, “Baby brother giggles.”

Tim barely had time to spit out a curse, trying to throw himself out of his chair in time to make a break for it. He knew it was futile — Dick had well and truly cornered him before he even realized the danger of the situation — but no self-respecting Wayne went down without a fight. Still, it was far too easy for Dick to lurch towards him, sweep an arm around his waist, and just fully yeet him onto his bed. Dick quickly bounced onto the mattress after him.

“No no no,” Tim babbled as he tried to kick out at Dick to keep him away. “Come on! Why me? You have a perfectly good babiest brother downstairs!” 

Dick laughed, fending off his feet. “Should’ve run when you had the chance, Timmy! I gave you plenty of warning.”

Dammit, and Tim’s body had already long figured it out, too. He was just too stupid to listen. 

A hand locked in a vice grip around his ankle, and Tim yelped as he was dragged across the bed. Dick wasted no time pinching into his knees and thighs as they came into range, leaving Tim gasping and kicking and swallowing snickers. He thrust his free foot into Dick’s forearm until Dick hissed and was forced to let him go. He immediately rolled onto his stomach then, getting his hands and knees underneath him to crawl away, cursing the bunched-up squishyness of his unmade bedding as it tripped him up and hampered his progress.

And then a lanky mass of limbs and fluffy hair landed on Tim’s back, knocking him flat to the bed again with a startled “oof!” Dick chuckled behind him, deep and slow, and Tim’s heart set off like a jackrabbit. Goosebumps prickled along his skin as the baby hairs of his neck stood on-end.

“You really think I was gonna let you get away that easy, kiddo?”

Tim tried to toss Dick off, bucking and twisting to no avail. He huffed out a breath, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. “The hell have you been eating over in Blüd?”

“Timmy, Timmy, Timmy… I’d almost think you’re trying to make this worse for yourself.”

As if. Tim had been busy, thank you very much! He had the W.E. reports to finish, and after that he had several in-progress cases to be working on, and after that he had some online practice tests for the GED he was trying to get in secret, and—

He just had a lot to do, okay? And Dick interrupting him was not fitting smoothly into his projected schedule. So what if some older brother tickles might actually make his brain stop spinning for a few minutes? It’s not like he’d try to dig himself into a deeper hole just to ensure a moment of peace. Especially since he’d probably be too wiped-out to keep working after, and Dick would drag him downstairs for some dumb family time activity, and he’d probably force Tim into being his cuddle buddy for a movie night or something and lure Tim into actually sleeping when he needed to be working, and—

Look. Tim wasn’t that desperate or self-sabotaging, okay?

Shut up.

Tim scoffed, still squirming, but gasped and went still as Dick settled curled fingers against his ribs and sides. They twitched threateningly, and Tim twitched with them.

“Can’t we talk about this?” Tim asked, trying to keep the giddiness out of his tone. It just made his voice sound small.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Dick said conversationally. “You go ahead and talk. I’ll just be here.”

Tim craned his head to shoot a wary look at Dick over his shoulder. Dick, lounging over his back like it was the most comfortable place in the world, blinked at him innocently. Tim narrowed his eyes but opened his mouth to speak, not even sure what he was about to say. Dick, both confirming his suspicions and saving him from having to come up with something, immediately vibrated his fingertips into the sides of Tim’s torso.

“N-no! Wait!” Thank god for Tim’s unmade mess of blankets, now. The way they puddled around provided him with a thick layer of fabric to bury his face in and muffle all the embarrassing noises he made as he tried to hold his laughter at bay.

“Wait? What do you mean? I’m not doing anything. I’m waiting on you, Timmy.”

Tim was so getting Dick back for this. If his brain hadn’t instantly scrambled under the ticklish assault, he’d already be planning his revenge. As it was, it was all Tim could do to shake with barely-contained laughter. 

Dick’s vibrating fingers paused and slid lower down his sides, squeezing into the flesh and muscle and baby fat still clinging on there even though Tim was 18 now. The good news? Tim was way less ticklish down there. Now that half his ribcage wasn’t in Dick’s grip, it was way easier to breathe around his suppressed laughter. The bad news? Dick’s hands were ever-so-slowly crawling back upward, which Tim knew from experience promised a no-holds-barred attack on his ribs the moment Dick got there. Arms flailing backward, he managed to latch his hands around Dick’s wrists, hoping he still had the strength to push Dick away. He only realized his mistake when Dick cackled out a laugh, one that was eerily reminiscent of his Robin days, and shot his hands up into Tim’s now-exposed armpits. 

Far too late, Tim clamped his arms down against his sides — or, at least, tried to. Being pinned facedown didn’t leave him much maneuverability, and he couldn’t get his arms properly tucked to his sides for the life of him. Not that it would’ve deterred Dick, anyway. Still, Tim would have preferred the flimsy semblance of protection against Dick’s jolting scratching. He wheezed into the blankets before finally cracking, stuttering laughter forcing its way past his lips.

“I thought you wanted to talk,” Dick said, infuriatingly conversational. “Come on bud, I’m all ears. What was it you wanted to say?”

Tim shook his head, trying his best to wriggle out from under Dick’s weight to no avail.

“No, no, don’t clam up now! I’m your big brother Tim, I’ll always want to hear what you have to say.”

Asshole, Tim thought. Then he hunched his shoulders with a squeak as Dick blew a cool stream of air over his nape and ears. It wasn’t as effective on him as it would be for, say, Damian, but it was still enough to send gooseflesh racing up along his neck and arms and make a giggle sneak through before he pitched back up into full laughter. Dick broke character for a moment to coo at him.

Tim managed to flip Dick off with one of his utterly useless hands, turning his head to the side to speak through his laughter, “You’re a j-jerk!” 

Dick gasped, loud and melodramatic. Tim quickly reburied his face with a screech as Dick shifted his fingers slightly downwards, digging into his highest rib and the space between it and his underarm.

“Baby Bird, I can’t believe it! Here I am, holding space for you and your feelings, and you hurl such abuse at me?” 

Tim, ever one to dig his own grave, replied simply with, “Deserved!”

He doubted it was intelligible through his laughter and blanket shield, but Dick seemed to understand him anyway. The only warning Tim got was a muttered, “Well if that’s how it is,” before one hand slid out from under his arm and vibrated ruthlessly into one of the kill-spots on the back of his bottom ribs. 

With two of his absolute worst spots being targeted with the sort of ruthless efficiency only an eldest sibling can have, Tim could only let out a wordless laugh-scream as he tried to cope with the sensations. The following cackles were loud and frantic, pulled deep from his lungs, and Tim had to twist his face into the open to get the air to support them. He tried desperately to thrash, to do anything to dislodge those hands, but Dick had draped his torso near-parallel over Tim’s own, leaving him no leeway. Bucking up to try and throw Dick off only bounced the both of them on the mattress, making the tickles even worse by jostling Dick’s hands into his ribs. The most he could do was kick his feet frantically, drumming them against the bedding, as if that could somehow alleviate the incessant buzzy, tingling, ticklish feeling overtaking his entire body and mind. 

He could tap out. Tim knew he could tap out, and Dick would respect it here just the same as on the sparring mats. Tim’s hands spasmed against the bedsheets once, twice, before his fingers tangled themselves into the fuzzy blankets and gripped tight.

“Dick!” Tim cried out. “Dick!!”

“Yeah, Timmy? I’m here, what’s up, bud?”

Tim wailed again as Dick managed to seamlessly swap which side got which treatment, renewing the sensations tenfold. “Ti— tic— it tick—“

“Sorry, could you speak up? I didn’t quite catch that.”

Tim let out a sound of frustration, tinged with too much giddiness and mirth to really be taken seriously, and thumped his feet against the mattress extra hard. Dick huffed out a fond laugh.

“Yeah, I bet it does tickle, huh, bud?”

Tim shrieked as Dick briefly clawed at both spots before switching back to the digging vibration of before. He tugged at the blankets fisted in his fingers, trying to bury himself. 

“Ohhhh,” Dick said, drawing out the word in a dramatic moment of realization. “Is that what you wanted to talk about this whole time? How tickly-ticklish you are? Well, why didn’t you just say so!”

If Tim could’ve groaned through his guffaws, he would have. As it was, he barely had the wherewithal to flip Dick off a second time. Another foolish mistake on his part. Dick chuckled deep and low and evil right next to his ear. Too quickly for Tim to process, there was a rush of cold air against his back as Dick raised his body up and away from Tim’s. Then, the tickling hands were gone too. Tim had barely sucked in a full breath before his shirt was unceremoniously shoved up past his ribs and Dick was blowing a long raspberry right up against one of those bottom-rib kill-spots.

Another laugh-scream (or was it a scream-laugh? The screaming definitely felt like the main sound) escaped Tim as the ticklish vibration spread outward across all the nerves in his back. He felt like a live wire, twitching and frenzied. It didn’t help when Dick’s next breath was dedicated to a series of shorter raspberries up and down that same side, each one sending a shock through him. After everything Dick had already put him through, it took Tim an embarrassing amount of time for his brain to process his freedom of movement and load up his defense mechanisms. Long enough for Dick to get another scream-worthy raspberry against his lower ribs before Tim managed to roll onto that side to protect it. 

Of course, that left one side not only completely defenseless, but practically handed to Dick on a silver platter. Dick, living up to his name, took full advantage of it, sending Tim crashing back onto his front as he jolted away from the evil, evil raspberries. They did that song and dance for a while, Dick teasing with his laughter and wordless coos while Tim flopped from side-to-side like a particularly stupid fish. It took another embarrassing several minutes (and several rounds of this particular torture) for Tim’s brain to load up some less stupid defense mechanisms and finally roll into his back. Take that Dick! Can’t torment the death spots on the backs of his ribs now. But instead of being put-out, Dick immediately seated himself over Tim’s thighs with a bright grin.

“There you are, bud!” Dick gave a few sporadic pokes around his stomach and sides. “Was wondering if I’d ever get to see that sweet smile of yours!”

Tim immediately started giggling, hiding his face behind one hand and slapping at Dick’s fingers with the other. “Dickie,” he whined.

Tim watched Dick cock his head through his fingers. “What? I thought your tummy looked lonely, don’t you think it could use some giggles too?”

Tim shook his head and watched Dick melt in real time.

“No? Are you sure?”

Well, if it would keep his brain quiet for a bit longer…

“Maybe just a little,” Tim mumbled.

Dick melted even more, if that was even possible. He wiggled his fingers into Tim’s stomach, digging into all the spots that made Tim feel giggly and fizzy with his own ticklishness. Tim removed the hand from his face, latching both hands onto Dick’s wrists. Not pushing Dick away, just holding on while he threw his head back with giggles and laughter. Eventually, Dick’s fingers tapered off. A set of dry lips pressed against Tim’s temple, and he peeled his teary eyes open to give Dick an embarrassed smile.

“All tickled out, Baby Bird?”

Tim was too exhausted to be defensive, giving Dick a nod. He beamed at Tim before rolling off of him, settling next to Tim in the bed and pulling Tim into his side. Tim snuggled in with a sigh.

“We were missing you downstairs,” Dick said after a moment, his voice soft and quiet. “You work too hard.”

Tim shrugged. “It has to get done.”

Dick hummed and rubbed his arm. “Shouldn’t be at your expense. Don’t turn into Bruce.”

“Or you?” Tim gave Dick a look out of the corner of his eye.

“Or me,” he grumbled. “Do as I say, not as I do.”

Tim snorted. “Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, brat. You coming down for movie night or what?”

Tim groaned and flopped more fully over Dick’s chest. “No,” he whined, drawing out the word. “Comfy. Naptime.”

Dick laughed. “Come on, bud. I didn’t turn you into a mushy little cuddle monster for nothing, I need my movie cuddle buddy.”

“Fine. But you’re carrying me.”

“Aye-aye, Captain.”

It took them a few minutes to get Tim settled onto Dick’s back, mostly because Tim decided to ragdoll and make Dick do all the work for his own amusement. They made their way down to the theater room where the rest of the family was already gathered, finishing up an argument on what they were going to watch that night. There was, of course, the teasing for the frantically ticklish sounds that had echoed down the stairs from Tim’s room, but it was almost worth it for the lingering drowsy, no-brain endorphins still running through his body. As it was, he just buried his blush in the crook of Dick’s neck, much to everyone’s clear amusement. 

Still, Tim could live with it. Especially when he got to doze off to some detective film, warm and cozy and under the watchful eye of his family. He could afford to take a break, just for a little bit.

But next time, he would make sure Dick didn’t get the upper hand.

[august-anon]

August!! I know that you have talked before about the batboys interacting w truth serum in regards to tickling and I didn’t know if you had any more thoughts on this. If that was something you’re planning on writing or just a fun idea. Hope you are well ☺️☺️

i am SURE i have more thoughts on it, but i have had a rough sleep week and a rough day today in general so my brain cannot compute them rn 😭

but yes, i hope to eventually write a fic (or multiple fics?? or a fic of vignettes?? undecided yet!!!) with batfam truth serum thoughts!!!

and i believe my dearest @oliviaischillin1204 once asked if he could use the ideas too and i said of COURSE because i love his work sdfjhdf so keep an eye over there too for if/when she has the time/energy/etc. to tackle it if she does decide to do so as well!!

[august-anon]

...omg... so many fics to eat after my hiatus... omg...

august.....these are all so good...i don't even have the words to express myself. i keep reading them. give me a few business days for my professional OpInIoN

MY WIFE IS BACK FROM WAR (aka education busy-ness lol)

Thank you i hope you enjoy them all!!! and make sure to be checking everyone else's blogs out too!! i am hoarding everyone's stuff in my drafts jdsffh but everyone is doing AMAZING stuff rn!! @hyacinthanon, @grey-anon, @lockedopus, @a-side-of-dreams, @moody-anon, @soft--dragon, and probably more that i am forgetting rn??? Our numbers GROW!!! there's so many of us now and everyone is doing such amazing things!!!

[august-anon]

someone needs to get stephanie’s ass bro she canNOT be a stinky lil menace and NOT get her shit wrecked

AGREE

someday i will write steph. someday!!! but for now i do not have confidence in my understanding of her character and dont wanna butcher her lol

but just know!!! that she (and duke and cass) are on my mind constantly!!!!!

[august-anon]

lol the drafts are getting out of control again folks I really gotta start tagging/queuing my ancient reblogs again

[august-anon]

First all, I really enjoy your work. I always enjoy coming back to re-read some of your fics.

Second of all, I've rarely asked in prompts, so apologies if I did anything wrong.

Prompt: Dick Grayson always gets a look on his face when in a mischievous mood that his siblings have learned to drop everything and escape. However, Tim, with his lack of self-preservation and addiction to coffee, has not learned his lesson.

Thank you so much!! And thank you for your patience, this has been sitting in my inbox for a year and a half 😭 I hope you enjoy this fic!!!

also folks, i barely edited this, i just skimmed through it last night in a haze when i was struggling to sleep, so pls bear that in mind if there are weird sentences or mistakes or typos dsjfhdf

_________________________________

Situational Awareness

Fandom: Batfamily (no specific source material/continuity)

Ship(s): Gen!!! Platonic!! Familial!! No batcest here

Characters (lee/ler): Lee!Tim & Ler!Dick

Word Count: 3298 words

Summary: Tim's too busy working to place why Dick's behavior is sending his nerves haywire. Luckily, Dick doesn't leave him in suspense for too long.

[ao3 link]

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For all of Bruce’s promises to soundproof the bedrooms, Tim could certainly hear all the shouting and cackling going on downstairs at the moment. Granted, it was probably because he’d left his door ever-so-slightly cracked on accident on his last energy drink run and he hadn’t felt like pulling himself away from his laptop to fix that. Still, it was doing the tension headache he could feel coming on no favors. These Wayne Enterprises reports weren’t going to write themselves, though, so Tim just rubbed at his eyes and pushed through. He didn’t even bother turning around when his door opened fully, the sounds from below growing louder with it.

“Been at the Manor for hours and haven’t seen hide nor hair of my baby bird! What are you doing, all locked away up here?” 

The unexpected voice nearly had Tim turning around, but if he let himself get interrupted now, he’d lose his flow and it would be impossible to force himself back on track. 

“Working.” 

Tim could practically hear the pout in Dick’s voice. “Working? When I’m in Gotham? Timmy, I’m hurt.”

Tim rolled his eyes, taking a gulp of his energy drink – shit, almost empty. That was his last one, too. He might have to start in on the coffee, soon. Blegh.

“Didn’t know you’d be home this weekend.”

A body suddenly draped itself over the back of his chair, which was not helping with the ache in his shoulders and upper back, thank you very much. Tim grunted at the extra weight and allowed himself a brief glare at Dick, whose head was now resting on his shoulder.

“Do you mind?”

Dick hummed. “No, not at all. I mean, it’s not the most comfy, you are pretty bony, but I can make-do. I cuddle with Wally all the time, after all.”

Tim closed his eyes and counted out a few steady breaths. When he reopened them, he turned to face Dick again and found Dick already watching him. Thankfully, he’d backed away a bit, so they weren’t having to cross their eyes to see each other.

“Dick. I’m busy right now. We can catch up later, alright?”

Dick pouted, the manipulative jerk, and glanced towards Tim’s desk. He knew Dick was taking in the mess of paperwork and casework he’d snuck up from the Cave, the excess of drink cans that he’d yet to haul down to the recycling, the state of the current report he was working on, all in a few seconds.

“Looks like you’ve been working for a bit now…”

“It’s due soon.”

“How soon?” He should’ve known Dick would immediately latch onto the vague wording. 

“Soon enough that you should leave me alone.”

Dick hummed again, narrowing his eyes. “You can’t take even just a little break?”

“I’ll break you,” Tim grumbled under his breath, but Dick was too close not to overhear. 

“Timmy,” Dick sing-songed, drawing out his name. 

For some reason, Tim’s skin started prickling, his heart thumping with a surge of adrenaline. Tim shrugged his shoulders, even with Dick’s weight pressed against them, trying to dispel some of the anxious energy. Maybe he had had too many energy drinks.

“What?” 

“You have five seconds to save your document.” 

Tim startled, glancing back toward Dick again. “I— wait, what?”

“Five… four… three…”

Tim swore under his breath and saved his spreadsheet, then the few other documents he had open too. Dick was kind enough to slow down his counting a comical amount for Tim to do so, even adding some fractions into the mix. When the last document was saved and Dick reached zero, he reached out and flipped the laptop shut. Tim pulled his fingers back with a yelp, barely clearing the edge of the device before it closed.

Tim managed to shake Dick off his shoulders for real after that, spinning his desk chair around to glare up at him. “Satisfied?”

Dick smiled, slow and innocent, but there was a dangerous curl to the edge of it. Tim was too preoccupied to bother wondering why it made him so twitchy, already mentally adding up further spreadsheet edits he needed to make in his head. He’d get to it as soon as he got Dick out of his room. Ugh, this is why he rarely stayed at the Manor anymore — at least at his Nest, he could lock obnoxious brothers out. 

“Almost,” Dick said, drawing out the word again. “Just one more thing.” 

Tim rolled his eyes. “And what’s that?”

Dick slunk closer, Tim’s hackles raising with every step. He loomed over Tim and said, “Baby brother giggles.”

Tim barely had time to spit out a curse, trying to throw himself out of his chair in time to make a break for it. He knew it was futile — Dick had well and truly cornered him before he even realized the danger of the situation — but no self-respecting Wayne went down without a fight. Still, it was far too easy for Dick to lurch towards him, sweep an arm around his waist, and just fully yeet him onto his bed. Dick quickly bounced onto the mattress after him.

“No no no,” Tim babbled as he tried to kick out at Dick to keep him away. “Come on! Why me? You have a perfectly good babiest brother downstairs!” 

Dick laughed, fending off his feet. “Should’ve run when you had the chance, Timmy! I gave you plenty of warning.”

Dammit, and Tim’s body had already long figured it out, too. He was just too stupid to listen. 

A hand locked in a vice grip around his ankle, and Tim yelped as he was dragged across the bed. Dick wasted no time pinching into his knees and thighs as they came into range, leaving Tim gasping and kicking and swallowing snickers. He thrust his free foot into Dick’s forearm until Dick hissed and was forced to let him go. He immediately rolled onto his stomach then, getting his hands and knees underneath him to crawl away, cursing the bunched-up squishyness of his unmade bedding as it tripped him up and hampered his progress.

And then a lanky mass of limbs and fluffy hair landed on Tim’s back, knocking him flat to the bed again with a startled “oof!” Dick chuckled behind him, deep and slow, and Tim’s heart set off like a jackrabbit. Goosebumps prickled along his skin as the baby hairs of his neck stood on-end.

“You really think I was gonna let you get away that easy, kiddo?”

Tim tried to toss Dick off, bucking and twisting to no avail. He huffed out a breath, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. “The hell have you been eating over in Blüd?”

“Timmy, Timmy, Timmy… I’d almost think you’re trying to make this worse for yourself.”

As if. Tim had been busy, thank you very much! He had the W.E. reports to finish, and after that he had several in-progress cases to be working on, and after that he had some online practice tests for the GED he was trying to get in secret, and—

He just had a lot to do, okay? And Dick interrupting him was not fitting smoothly into his projected schedule. So what if some older brother tickles might actually make his brain stop spinning for a few minutes? It’s not like he’d try to dig himself into a deeper hole just to ensure a moment of peace. Especially since he’d probably be too wiped-out to keep working after, and Dick would drag him downstairs for some dumb family time activity, and he’d probably force Tim into being his cuddle buddy for a movie night or something and lure Tim into actually sleeping when he needed to be working, and—

Look. Tim wasn’t that desperate or self-sabotaging, okay?

Shut up.

Tim scoffed, still squirming, but gasped and went still as Dick settled curled fingers against his ribs and sides. They twitched threateningly, and Tim twitched with them.

“Can’t we talk about this?” Tim asked, trying to keep the giddiness out of his tone. It just made his voice sound small.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Dick said conversationally. “You go ahead and talk. I’ll just be here.”

Tim craned his head to shoot a wary look at Dick over his shoulder. Dick, lounging over his back like it was the most comfortable place in the world, blinked at him innocently. Tim narrowed his eyes but opened his mouth to speak, not even sure what he was about to say. Dick, both confirming his suspicions and saving him from having to come up with something, immediately vibrated his fingertips into the sides of Tim’s torso.

“N-no! Wait!” Thank god for Tim’s unmade mess of blankets, now. The way they puddled around provided him with a thick layer of fabric to bury his face in and muffle all the embarrassing noises he made as he tried to hold his laughter at bay.

“Wait? What do you mean? I’m not doing anything. I’m waiting on you, Timmy.”

Tim was so getting Dick back for this. If his brain hadn’t instantly scrambled under the ticklish assault, he’d already be planning his revenge. As it was, it was all Tim could do to shake with barely-contained laughter. 

Dick’s vibrating fingers paused and slid lower down his sides, squeezing into the flesh and muscle and baby fat still clinging on there even though Tim was 18 now. The good news? Tim was way less ticklish down there. Now that half his ribcage wasn’t in Dick’s grip, it was way easier to breathe around his suppressed laughter. The bad news? Dick’s hands were ever-so-slowly crawling back upward, which Tim knew from experience promised a no-holds-barred attack on his ribs the moment Dick got there. Arms flailing backward, he managed to latch his hands around Dick’s wrists, hoping he still had the strength to push Dick away. He only realized his mistake when Dick cackled out a laugh, one that was eerily reminiscent of his Robin days, and shot his hands up into Tim’s now-exposed armpits. 

Far too late, Tim clamped his arms down against his sides — or, at least, tried to. Being pinned facedown didn’t leave him much maneuverability, and he couldn’t get his arms properly tucked to his sides for the life of him. Not that it would’ve deterred Dick, anyway. Still, Tim would have preferred the flimsy semblance of protection against Dick’s jolting scratching. He wheezed into the blankets before finally cracking, stuttering laughter forcing its way past his lips.

“I thought you wanted to talk,” Dick said, infuriatingly conversational. “Come on bud, I’m all ears. What was it you wanted to say?”

Tim shook his head, trying his best to wriggle out from under Dick’s weight to no avail.

“No, no, don’t clam up now! I’m your big brother Tim, I’ll always want to hear what you have to say.”

Asshole, Tim thought. Then he hunched his shoulders with a squeak as Dick blew a cool stream of air over his nape and ears. It wasn’t as effective on him as it would be for, say, Damian, but it was still enough to send gooseflesh racing up along his neck and arms and make a giggle sneak through before he pitched back up into full laughter. Dick broke character for a moment to coo at him.

Tim managed to flip Dick off with one of his utterly useless hands, turning his head to the side to speak through his laughter, “You’re a j-jerk!” 

Dick gasped, loud and melodramatic. Tim quickly reburied his face with a screech as Dick shifted his fingers slightly downwards, digging into his highest rib and the space between it and his underarm.

“Baby Bird, I can’t believe it! Here I am, holding space for you and your feelings, and you hurl such abuse at me?” 

Tim, ever one to dig his own grave, replied simply with, “Deserved!”

He doubted it was intelligible through his laughter and blanket shield, but Dick seemed to understand him anyway. The only warning Tim got was a muttered, “Well if that’s how it is,” before one hand slid out from under his arm and vibrated ruthlessly into one of the kill-spots on the back of his bottom ribs. 

With two of his absolute worst spots being targeted with the sort of ruthless efficiency only an eldest sibling can have, Tim could only let out a wordless laugh-scream as he tried to cope with the sensations. The following cackles were loud and frantic, pulled deep from his lungs, and Tim had to twist his face into the open to get the air to support them. He tried desperately to thrash, to do anything to dislodge those hands, but Dick had draped his torso near-parallel over Tim’s own, leaving him no leeway. Bucking up to try and throw Dick off only bounced the both of them on the mattress, making the tickles even worse by jostling Dick’s hands into his ribs. The most he could do was kick his feet frantically, drumming them against the bedding, as if that could somehow alleviate the incessant buzzy, tingling, ticklish feeling overtaking his entire body and mind. 

He could tap out. Tim knew he could tap out, and Dick would respect it here just the same as on the sparring mats. Tim’s hands spasmed against the bedsheets once, twice, before his fingers tangled themselves into the fuzzy blankets and gripped tight.

“Dick!” Tim cried out. “Dick!!”

“Yeah, Timmy? I’m here, what’s up, bud?”

Tim wailed again as Dick managed to seamlessly swap which side got which treatment, renewing the sensations tenfold. “Ti— tic— it tick—“

“Sorry, could you speak up? I didn’t quite catch that.”

Tim let out a sound of frustration, tinged with too much giddiness and mirth to really be taken seriously, and thumped his feet against the mattress extra hard. Dick huffed out a fond laugh.

“Yeah, I bet it does tickle, huh, bud?”

Tim shrieked as Dick briefly clawed at both spots before switching back to the digging vibration of before. He tugged at the blankets fisted in his fingers, trying to bury himself. 

“Ohhhh,” Dick said, drawing out the word in a dramatic moment of realization. “Is that what you wanted to talk about this whole time? How tickly-ticklish you are? Well, why didn’t you just say so!”

If Tim could’ve groaned through his guffaws, he would have. As it was, he barely had the wherewithal to flip Dick off a second time. Another foolish mistake on his part. Dick chuckled deep and low and evil right next to his ear. Too quickly for Tim to process, there was a rush of cold air against his back as Dick raised his body up and away from Tim’s. Then, the tickling hands were gone too. Tim had barely sucked in a full breath before his shirt was unceremoniously shoved up past his ribs and Dick was blowing a long raspberry right up against one of those bottom-rib kill-spots.

Another laugh-scream (or was it a scream-laugh? The screaming definitely felt like the main sound) escaped Tim as the ticklish vibration spread outward across all the nerves in his back. He felt like a live wire, twitching and frenzied. It didn’t help when Dick’s next breath was dedicated to a series of shorter raspberries up and down that same side, each one sending a shock through him. After everything Dick had already put him through, it took Tim an embarrassing amount of time for his brain to process his freedom of movement and load up his defense mechanisms. Long enough for Dick to get another scream-worthy raspberry against his lower ribs before Tim managed to roll onto that side to protect it. 

Of course, that left one side not only completely defenseless, but practically handed to Dick on a silver platter. Dick, living up to his name, took full advantage of it, sending Tim crashing back onto his front as he jolted away from the evil, evil raspberries. They did that song and dance for a while, Dick teasing with his laughter and wordless coos while Tim flopped from side-to-side like a particularly stupid fish. It took another embarrassing several minutes (and several rounds of this particular torture) for Tim’s brain to load up some less stupid defense mechanisms and finally roll into his back. Take that Dick! Can’t torment the death spots on the backs of his ribs now. But instead of being put-out, Dick immediately seated himself over Tim’s thighs with a bright grin.

“There you are, bud!” Dick gave a few sporadic pokes around his stomach and sides. “Was wondering if I’d ever get to see that sweet smile of yours!”

Tim immediately started giggling, hiding his face behind one hand and slapping at Dick’s fingers with the other. “Dickie,” he whined.

Tim watched Dick cock his head through his fingers. “What? I thought your tummy looked lonely, don’t you think it could use some giggles too?”

Tim shook his head and watched Dick melt in real time.

“No? Are you sure?”

Well, if it would keep his brain quiet for a bit longer…

“Maybe just a little,” Tim mumbled.

Dick melted even more, if that was even possible. He wiggled his fingers into Tim’s stomach, digging into all the spots that made Tim feel giggly and fizzy with his own ticklishness. Tim removed the hand from his face, latching both hands onto Dick’s wrists. Not pushing Dick away, just holding on while he threw his head back with giggles and laughter. Eventually, Dick’s fingers tapered off. A set of dry lips pressed against Tim’s temple, and he peeled his teary eyes open to give Dick an embarrassed smile.

“All tickled out, Baby Bird?”

Tim was too exhausted to be defensive, giving Dick a nod. He beamed at Tim before rolling off of him, settling next to Tim in the bed and pulling Tim into his side. Tim snuggled in with a sigh.

“We were missing you downstairs,” Dick said after a moment, his voice soft and quiet. “You work too hard.”

Tim shrugged. “It has to get done.”

Dick hummed and rubbed his arm. “Shouldn’t be at your expense. Don’t turn into Bruce.”

“Or you?” Tim gave Dick a look out of the corner of his eye.

“Or me,” he grumbled. “Do as I say, not as I do.”

Tim snorted. “Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, brat. You coming down for movie night or what?”

Tim groaned and flopped more fully over Dick’s chest. “No,” he whined, drawing out the word. “Comfy. Naptime.”

Dick laughed. “Come on, bud. I didn’t turn you into a mushy little cuddle monster for nothing, I need my movie cuddle buddy.”

“Fine. But you’re carrying me.”

“Aye-aye, Captain.”

It took them a few minutes to get Tim settled onto Dick’s back, mostly because Tim decided to ragdoll and make Dick do all the work for his own amusement. They made their way down to the theater room where the rest of the family was already gathered, finishing up an argument on what they were going to watch that night. There was, of course, the teasing for the frantically ticklish sounds that had echoed down the stairs from Tim’s room, but it was almost worth it for the lingering drowsy, no-brain endorphins still running through his body. As it was, he just buried his blush in the crook of Dick’s neck, much to everyone’s clear amusement. 

Still, Tim could live with it. Especially when he got to doze off to some detective film, warm and cozy and under the watchful eye of his family. He could afford to take a break, just for a little bit.

But next time, he would make sure Dick didn’t get the upper hand.

[august-anon]

First all, I really enjoy your work. I always enjoy coming back to re-read some of your fics.

Second of all, I've rarely asked in prompts, so apologies if I did anything wrong.

Prompt: Dick Grayson always gets a look on his face when in a mischievous mood that his siblings have learned to drop everything and escape. However, Tim, with his lack of self-preservation and addiction to coffee, has not learned his lesson.

Thank you so much!! And thank you for your patience, this has been sitting in my inbox for a year and a half 😭 I hope you enjoy this fic!!!

also folks, i barely edited this, i just skimmed through it last night in a haze when i was struggling to sleep, so pls bear that in mind if there are weird sentences or mistakes or typos dsjfhdf

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Situational Awareness

Fandom: Batfamily (no specific source material/continuity)

Ship(s): Gen!!! Platonic!! Familial!! No batcest here

Characters (lee/ler): Lee!Tim & Ler!Dick

Word Count: 3298 words

Summary: Tim's too busy working to place why Dick's behavior is sending his nerves haywire. Luckily, Dick doesn't leave him in suspense for too long.

[ao3 link]

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For all of Bruce’s promises to soundproof the bedrooms, Tim could certainly hear all the shouting and cackling going on downstairs at the moment. Granted, it was probably because he’d left his door ever-so-slightly cracked on accident on his last energy drink run and he hadn’t felt like pulling himself away from his laptop to fix that. Still, it was doing the tension headache he could feel coming on no favors. These Wayne Enterprises reports weren’t going to write themselves, though, so Tim just rubbed at his eyes and pushed through. He didn’t even bother turning around when his door opened fully, the sounds from below growing louder with it.

“Been at the Manor for hours and haven’t seen hide nor hair of my baby bird! What are you doing, all locked away up here?” 

The unexpected voice nearly had Tim turning around, but if he let himself get interrupted now, he’d lose his flow and it would be impossible to force himself back on track. 

“Working.” 

Tim could practically hear the pout in Dick’s voice. “Working? When I’m in Gotham? Timmy, I’m hurt.”

Tim rolled his eyes, taking a gulp of his energy drink – shit, almost empty. That was his last one, too. He might have to start in on the coffee, soon. Blegh.

“Didn’t know you’d be home this weekend.”

A body suddenly draped itself over the back of his chair, which was not helping with the ache in his shoulders and upper back, thank you very much. Tim grunted at the extra weight and allowed himself a brief glare at Dick, whose head was now resting on his shoulder.

“Do you mind?”

Dick hummed. “No, not at all. I mean, it’s not the most comfy, you are pretty bony, but I can make-do. I cuddle with Wally all the time, after all.”

Tim closed his eyes and counted out a few steady breaths. When he reopened them, he turned to face Dick again and found Dick already watching him. Thankfully, he’d backed away a bit, so they weren’t having to cross their eyes to see each other.

“Dick. I’m busy right now. We can catch up later, alright?”

Dick pouted, the manipulative jerk, and glanced towards Tim’s desk. He knew Dick was taking in the mess of paperwork and casework he’d snuck up from the Cave, the excess of drink cans that he’d yet to haul down to the recycling, the state of the current report he was working on, all in a few seconds.

“Looks like you’ve been working for a bit now…”

“It’s due soon.”

“How soon?” He should’ve known Dick would immediately latch onto the vague wording. 

“Soon enough that you should leave me alone.”

Dick hummed again, narrowing his eyes. “You can’t take even just a little break?”

“I’ll break you,” Tim grumbled under his breath, but Dick was too close not to overhear. 

“Timmy,” Dick sing-songed, drawing out his name. 

For some reason, Tim’s skin started prickling, his heart thumping with a surge of adrenaline. Tim shrugged his shoulders, even with Dick’s weight pressed against them, trying to dispel some of the anxious energy. Maybe he had had too many energy drinks.

“What?” 

“You have five seconds to save your document.” 

Tim startled, glancing back toward Dick again. “I— wait, what?”

“Five… four… three…”

Tim swore under his breath and saved his spreadsheet, then the few other documents he had open too. Dick was kind enough to slow down his counting a comical amount for Tim to do so, even adding some fractions into the mix. When the last document was saved and Dick reached zero, he reached out and flipped the laptop shut. Tim pulled his fingers back with a yelp, barely clearing the edge of the device before it closed.

Tim managed to shake Dick off his shoulders for real after that, spinning his desk chair around to glare up at him. “Satisfied?”

Dick smiled, slow and innocent, but there was a dangerous curl to the edge of it. Tim was too preoccupied to bother wondering why it made him so twitchy, already mentally adding up further spreadsheet edits he needed to make in his head. He’d get to it as soon as he got Dick out of his room. Ugh, this is why he rarely stayed at the Manor anymore — at least at his Nest, he could lock obnoxious brothers out. 

“Almost,” Dick said, drawing out the word again. “Just one more thing.” 

Tim rolled his eyes. “And what’s that?”

Dick slunk closer, Tim’s hackles raising with every step. He loomed over Tim and said, “Baby brother giggles.”

Tim barely had time to spit out a curse, trying to throw himself out of his chair in time to make a break for it. He knew it was futile — Dick had well and truly cornered him before he even realized the danger of the situation — but no self-respecting Wayne went down without a fight. Still, it was far too easy for Dick to lurch towards him, sweep an arm around his waist, and just fully yeet him onto his bed. Dick quickly bounced onto the mattress after him.

“No no no,” Tim babbled as he tried to kick out at Dick to keep him away. “Come on! Why me? You have a perfectly good babiest brother downstairs!” 

Dick laughed, fending off his feet. “Should’ve run when you had the chance, Timmy! I gave you plenty of warning.”

Dammit, and Tim’s body had already long figured it out, too. He was just too stupid to listen. 

A hand locked in a vice grip around his ankle, and Tim yelped as he was dragged across the bed. Dick wasted no time pinching into his knees and thighs as they came into range, leaving Tim gasping and kicking and swallowing snickers. He thrust his free foot into Dick’s forearm until Dick hissed and was forced to let him go. He immediately rolled onto his stomach then, getting his hands and knees underneath him to crawl away, cursing the bunched-up squishyness of his unmade bedding as it tripped him up and hampered his progress.

And then a lanky mass of limbs and fluffy hair landed on Tim’s back, knocking him flat to the bed again with a startled “oof!” Dick chuckled behind him, deep and slow, and Tim’s heart set off like a jackrabbit. Goosebumps prickled along his skin as the baby hairs of his neck stood on-end.

“You really think I was gonna let you get away that easy, kiddo?”

Tim tried to toss Dick off, bucking and twisting to no avail. He huffed out a breath, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. “The hell have you been eating over in Blüd?”

“Timmy, Timmy, Timmy… I’d almost think you’re trying to make this worse for yourself.”

As if. Tim had been busy, thank you very much! He had the W.E. reports to finish, and after that he had several in-progress cases to be working on, and after that he had some online practice tests for the GED he was trying to get in secret, and—

He just had a lot to do, okay? And Dick interrupting him was not fitting smoothly into his projected schedule. So what if some older brother tickles might actually make his brain stop spinning for a few minutes? It’s not like he’d try to dig himself into a deeper hole just to ensure a moment of peace. Especially since he’d probably be too wiped-out to keep working after, and Dick would drag him downstairs for some dumb family time activity, and he’d probably force Tim into being his cuddle buddy for a movie night or something and lure Tim into actually sleeping when he needed to be working, and—

Look. Tim wasn’t that desperate or self-sabotaging, okay?

Shut up.

Tim scoffed, still squirming, but gasped and went still as Dick settled curled fingers against his ribs and sides. They twitched threateningly, and Tim twitched with them.

“Can’t we talk about this?” Tim asked, trying to keep the giddiness out of his tone. It just made his voice sound small.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Dick said conversationally. “You go ahead and talk. I’ll just be here.”

Tim craned his head to shoot a wary look at Dick over his shoulder. Dick, lounging over his back like it was the most comfortable place in the world, blinked at him innocently. Tim narrowed his eyes but opened his mouth to speak, not even sure what he was about to say. Dick, both confirming his suspicions and saving him from having to come up with something, immediately vibrated his fingertips into the sides of Tim’s torso.

“N-no! Wait!” Thank god for Tim’s unmade mess of blankets, now. The way they puddled around provided him with a thick layer of fabric to bury his face in and muffle all the embarrassing noises he made as he tried to hold his laughter at bay.

“Wait? What do you mean? I’m not doing anything. I’m waiting on you, Timmy.”

Tim was so getting Dick back for this. If his brain hadn’t instantly scrambled under the ticklish assault, he’d already be planning his revenge. As it was, it was all Tim could do to shake with barely-contained laughter. 

Dick’s vibrating fingers paused and slid lower down his sides, squeezing into the flesh and muscle and baby fat still clinging on there even though Tim was 18 now. The good news? Tim was way less ticklish down there. Now that half his ribcage wasn’t in Dick’s grip, it was way easier to breathe around his suppressed laughter. The bad news? Dick’s hands were ever-so-slowly crawling back upward, which Tim knew from experience promised a no-holds-barred attack on his ribs the moment Dick got there. Arms flailing backward, he managed to latch his hands around Dick’s wrists, hoping he still had the strength to push Dick away. He only realized his mistake when Dick cackled out a laugh, one that was eerily reminiscent of his Robin days, and shot his hands up into Tim’s now-exposed armpits. 

Far too late, Tim clamped his arms down against his sides — or, at least, tried to. Being pinned facedown didn’t leave him much maneuverability, and he couldn’t get his arms properly tucked to his sides for the life of him. Not that it would’ve deterred Dick, anyway. Still, Tim would have preferred the flimsy semblance of protection against Dick’s jolting scratching. He wheezed into the blankets before finally cracking, stuttering laughter forcing its way past his lips.

“I thought you wanted to talk,” Dick said, infuriatingly conversational. “Come on bud, I’m all ears. What was it you wanted to say?”

Tim shook his head, trying his best to wriggle out from under Dick’s weight to no avail.

“No, no, don’t clam up now! I’m your big brother Tim, I’ll always want to hear what you have to say.”

Asshole, Tim thought. Then he hunched his shoulders with a squeak as Dick blew a cool stream of air over his nape and ears. It wasn’t as effective on him as it would be for, say, Damian, but it was still enough to send gooseflesh racing up along his neck and arms and make a giggle sneak through before he pitched back up into full laughter. Dick broke character for a moment to coo at him.

Tim managed to flip Dick off with one of his utterly useless hands, turning his head to the side to speak through his laughter, “You’re a j-jerk!” 

Dick gasped, loud and melodramatic. Tim quickly reburied his face with a screech as Dick shifted his fingers slightly downwards, digging into his highest rib and the space between it and his underarm.

“Baby Bird, I can’t believe it! Here I am, holding space for you and your feelings, and you hurl such abuse at me?” 

Tim, ever one to dig his own grave, replied simply with, “Deserved!”

He doubted it was intelligible through his laughter and blanket shield, but Dick seemed to understand him anyway. The only warning Tim got was a muttered, “Well if that’s how it is,” before one hand slid out from under his arm and vibrated ruthlessly into one of the kill-spots on the back of his bottom ribs. 

With two of his absolute worst spots being targeted with the sort of ruthless efficiency only an eldest sibling can have, Tim could only let out a wordless laugh-scream as he tried to cope with the sensations. The following cackles were loud and frantic, pulled deep from his lungs, and Tim had to twist his face into the open to get the air to support them. He tried desperately to thrash, to do anything to dislodge those hands, but Dick had draped his torso near-parallel over Tim’s own, leaving him no leeway. Bucking up to try and throw Dick off only bounced the both of them on the mattress, making the tickles even worse by jostling Dick’s hands into his ribs. The most he could do was kick his feet frantically, drumming them against the bedding, as if that could somehow alleviate the incessant buzzy, tingling, ticklish feeling overtaking his entire body and mind. 

He could tap out. Tim knew he could tap out, and Dick would respect it here just the same as on the sparring mats. Tim’s hands spasmed against the bedsheets once, twice, before his fingers tangled themselves into the fuzzy blankets and gripped tight.

“Dick!” Tim cried out. “Dick!!”

“Yeah, Timmy? I’m here, what’s up, bud?”

Tim wailed again as Dick managed to seamlessly swap which side got which treatment, renewing the sensations tenfold. “Ti— tic— it tick—“

“Sorry, could you speak up? I didn’t quite catch that.”

Tim let out a sound of frustration, tinged with too much giddiness and mirth to really be taken seriously, and thumped his feet against the mattress extra hard. Dick huffed out a fond laugh.

“Yeah, I bet it does tickle, huh, bud?”

Tim shrieked as Dick briefly clawed at both spots before switching back to the digging vibration of before. He tugged at the blankets fisted in his fingers, trying to bury himself. 

“Ohhhh,” Dick said, drawing out the word in a dramatic moment of realization. “Is that what you wanted to talk about this whole time? How tickly-ticklish you are? Well, why didn’t you just say so!”

If Tim could’ve groaned through his guffaws, he would have. As it was, he barely had the wherewithal to flip Dick off a second time. Another foolish mistake on his part. Dick chuckled deep and low and evil right next to his ear. Too quickly for Tim to process, there was a rush of cold air against his back as Dick raised his body up and away from Tim’s. Then, the tickling hands were gone too. Tim had barely sucked in a full breath before his shirt was unceremoniously shoved up past his ribs and Dick was blowing a long raspberry right up against one of those bottom-rib kill-spots.

Another laugh-scream (or was it a scream-laugh? The screaming definitely felt like the main sound) escaped Tim as the ticklish vibration spread outward across all the nerves in his back. He felt like a live wire, twitching and frenzied. It didn’t help when Dick’s next breath was dedicated to a series of shorter raspberries up and down that same side, each one sending a shock through him. After everything Dick had already put him through, it took Tim an embarrassing amount of time for his brain to process his freedom of movement and load up his defense mechanisms. Long enough for Dick to get another scream-worthy raspberry against his lower ribs before Tim managed to roll onto that side to protect it. 

Of course, that left one side not only completely defenseless, but practically handed to Dick on a silver platter. Dick, living up to his name, took full advantage of it, sending Tim crashing back onto his front as he jolted away from the evil, evil raspberries. They did that song and dance for a while, Dick teasing with his laughter and wordless coos while Tim flopped from side-to-side like a particularly stupid fish. It took another embarrassing several minutes (and several rounds of this particular torture) for Tim’s brain to load up some less stupid defense mechanisms and finally roll into his back. Take that Dick! Can’t torment the death spots on the backs of his ribs now. But instead of being put-out, Dick immediately seated himself over Tim’s thighs with a bright grin.

“There you are, bud!” Dick gave a few sporadic pokes around his stomach and sides. “Was wondering if I’d ever get to see that sweet smile of yours!”

Tim immediately started giggling, hiding his face behind one hand and slapping at Dick’s fingers with the other. “Dickie,” he whined.

Tim watched Dick cock his head through his fingers. “What? I thought your tummy looked lonely, don’t you think it could use some giggles too?”

Tim shook his head and watched Dick melt in real time.

“No? Are you sure?”

Well, if it would keep his brain quiet for a bit longer…

“Maybe just a little,” Tim mumbled.

Dick melted even more, if that was even possible. He wiggled his fingers into Tim’s stomach, digging into all the spots that made Tim feel giggly and fizzy with his own ticklishness. Tim removed the hand from his face, latching both hands onto Dick’s wrists. Not pushing Dick away, just holding on while he threw his head back with giggles and laughter. Eventually, Dick’s fingers tapered off. A set of dry lips pressed against Tim’s temple, and he peeled his teary eyes open to give Dick an embarrassed smile.

“All tickled out, Baby Bird?”

Tim was too exhausted to be defensive, giving Dick a nod. He beamed at Tim before rolling off of him, settling next to Tim in the bed and pulling Tim into his side. Tim snuggled in with a sigh.

“We were missing you downstairs,” Dick said after a moment, his voice soft and quiet. “You work too hard.”

Tim shrugged. “It has to get done.”

Dick hummed and rubbed his arm. “Shouldn’t be at your expense. Don’t turn into Bruce.”

“Or you?” Tim gave Dick a look out of the corner of his eye.

“Or me,” he grumbled. “Do as I say, not as I do.”

Tim snorted. “Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, brat. You coming down for movie night or what?”

Tim groaned and flopped more fully over Dick’s chest. “No,” he whined, drawing out the word. “Comfy. Naptime.”

Dick laughed. “Come on, bud. I didn’t turn you into a mushy little cuddle monster for nothing, I need my movie cuddle buddy.”

“Fine. But you’re carrying me.”

“Aye-aye, Captain.”

It took them a few minutes to get Tim settled onto Dick’s back, mostly because Tim decided to ragdoll and make Dick do all the work for his own amusement. They made their way down to the theater room where the rest of the family was already gathered, finishing up an argument on what they were going to watch that night. There was, of course, the teasing for the frantically ticklish sounds that had echoed down the stairs from Tim’s room, but it was almost worth it for the lingering drowsy, no-brain endorphins still running through his body. As it was, he just buried his blush in the crook of Dick’s neck, much to everyone’s clear amusement. 

Still, Tim could live with it. Especially when he got to doze off to some detective film, warm and cozy and under the watchful eye of his family. He could afford to take a break, just for a little bit.

But next time, he would make sure Dick didn’t get the upper hand.

[august-anon]

the way that, less than 30 seconds after that fic went up, i'm pulling up discord to let @hyacinthanon know it went up because she's been excited. AND THIS GIRL HAD ALREADY SENT ME A MESSAGE ABOUT MY OWN FIC GOING UP SDJKFHDFH

NOT EVEN 30 SECONDS IM TELLING YALL SKDJFHKJDFH

[august-anon]

have you seen the witch hat atelier? i recommend for the found family trope :p

i'd never even heard of it before you sent this ask lol. i dont do a lot of anime these days, but maybe I'll look into it! especially depends on where it's available too though

[august-anon]

someone remind me to post fic tomorrow when it’s not almost 2am lol

[august-anon]

oh my god I just realized I completely forgot about Tickletober this year lol

should I still make a list this year, or should I take a break and get back to it next year maybe??

[august-anon]

when you wanted to edit a fic this weekend to post soon but instead it’s post-4th of July and the disabilities sure are disabling lol

[august-anon]

supergirl movie thoughts (non-spoilery)!!!

it is definitely NOT!!! as bad as reviews would make you believe. Overall it’s a fun movie, and not terrible. It’s decent, it’s okay enough….

but like,,,,, as someone who got Woman of Tomorrow and read through it before the movie, and made both people who I went with read through it before the movie as well, and we all very much enjoyed that comic……

the movie was admittedly unfortunately disappointing :((((((( I feel like they really missed the entire point of the comic they were trying to adapt, and the emotional core and heart really wasn’t there….. (VAGUE SPOILERS AHEAD) especially the ending left a LOT to be desired, with a certain choice Kara makes there (VAGUE SPOILERS OVER)

I still have hope for the DCU movieverse!! But after how phenomenal I found superman last year….. I can’t deny being disappointed by supergirl 😭 even if it’s not as bad as reviews are apparently making it out to be

[august-anon]

I would really give the Witcher season 4 a try!! Without saying too much, There are these characters that call themselves the rats. They take in Ciri and I love the dynamic between everyone in the group. If you ever end up watching it, a fic about that would be so cute!

ahhhh, I have heard much speak of the Rats in book context over the years even though I haven’t gotten to that book yet (thanks, ADHD) and,,,,, even if they really altered the Vibes in the show comparative to the book (which they’ve done with many characters so it’s possible!!), I do Not think that’s smth I could vibe with writing even if the show gives it completely different context 😭

[august-anon]

i’m pretty sure you don’t post about the witcher anymore but i wanted to let you know one time i read them all and its what got me into the show 😭

hi!!! ahhh, omg, i'm so honored!!!! yeah i haven't posted Witcher in a hot minute, but i do still love it in my soul!!! i love the games, and my adhd beast brain has still only made it through like 3 of the books in the past several years sdkjfhdhf, and i am SO SUPER LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT WITCHER GAME WITH MC/PC CIRI!!! It is so unforch that the 2nd season of the show killed my momentum for it so thoroughly 😭😭😭i really wanna get back into it, cuz ive heard s3 is so much better again (though i wonder how s4 is faring,,,, did it start coming out?? i swear i thought i saw it started coming out idk lol). tbh i only really wanna return to the show for joey batey and his jaskier dkjfhdf

but omg yes, its always so 😭😭when someone tells me i got them into a fandom 🥺i hope its a show/fandom that's brought you a lot of joy!!! maybe/hopefully someday i will get back into it!!

[august-anon]

I’m about to shoot out some job applications soon so maybe I oughta finish/edit at least one more fic to post very soon in case I gotta go MIA for a hot minute soon for job hunting/hopefully new job achievement and training/adjustment period lol

[august-anon]

guess who had some spicy meltdowns today folks 🤪

[august-anon]

I’m about to shoot out some job applications soon so maybe I oughta finish/edit at least one more fic to post very soon in case I gotta go MIA for a hot minute soon for job hunting/hopefully new job achievement and training/adjustment period lol